October 17, 2015

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS - Coming Soon

Photo credits by Donald Weidler

MADISON, S.D. – Dakota State (S.D.) hit an astounding .437 to cruise for a 2-0 match lead in the North Star Athletic Association volleyball contest over Mayville State (N.D.) Saturday evening at DSU Fieldhouse.  The Comets won the third set, but the Trojans held on to a 3-1 victory (25-14, 25-18, 20-25 and 25-22).

Dakota State gained their 12th victory in the last 15 matches and improved to 5-2 record in their current eight-match home stand at DSU Fieldhouse.  The Trojans won their third straight match to raise their overall record to 16-12 and 8-2 in the NSAA conference action.  DSU's eight conference victories is the most conference wins since 2005 where the Trojans went 9-5 record in the former Dakota Athletic Conference.

Mayville State fell to 9-20 overall record and 1-7 NSAA conference record.

Tied 7-7 in the opening set, the Trojans closed the set with a strong 18-7 scoring run for a 25-14 victory.  DSU hit an impressive .467 by smashing 16 kills with 2 errors in 30 attempts.  Mayville State was held to .057 hitting efficiency, recording 9 kills with 7 errors in 35 attempts.

Dakota State hit another impressive .415 after registering 18 kills with just 1 attack error in 41 attempts for a 25-18 second set win.  MSU had 13 kills with 7 errors in 44 attempts.

The Trojans registered 34 kills with only 3 attack errors in 71 attempts in the first two sets.  The Comets were held to .101 hitting percentage (22 kills with 14 errors in 79 attempts) in those sets.

With DSU leading 17-14 in the third set, the Comets went on to score seven straight points to overtake a 21-17 lead.  The Comets extended the match after winning the third set 25-20.  MSU hit .209 (15 kills with 6 errors in 43 attempts) while DSU was held to .122 hitting percentage (13 kills with 8 errors in 41 attempts).

The Trojans and Comets went through a see-saw battle in the fourth set with nine ties and two lead changes.  Tied at 22-22, DSU closed the match with a 3-0 run for a 25-22 victory.  Alicia Karst sealed the match with a kill for DSU.

Dakota State hit .219 in the fourth set (17 kills with 8 errors in 44 attempts) while Mayville State hit .119 (13 kills with 8 errors in 42 attempts).

Carly Rozell recorded her eighth double-double of the season after smashing a match-high 20 kills and recorded 19 digs for the Trojans.  She hit .419 in the match after with just two attack errors in 43 attempts.  She had two service aces. 

DSU's Tessa Weeldreyer added 12 kills and hit .500 with an attack error in 22 attempts.  McKenzie Werner registered 11 kills.  Kirstin Johnson had nine kills.

Kaylee Vander Wal collected 31 set assists for DSU.  Rachel Johnson added 26 assists.

Chelsey Davis led Dakota State's defense with 23 digs.  Weeldreyer recorded seven block assists and a solo block.  Karst, Rozell and Kylie Martin each had three block assists.

Remington Werner hit .360 after recording 12 kills with 3 errors in 25 attempts for Mayville State.  Joely Christiansen added eight kills.

Megan Kolness produced 36 assists and recorded 7 kills for the Comets.  She had eight digs.

Sydney Boom tallied 15 digs for MSU.  Jen Puncochar and Paige O'Connor each added 10 digs.  Nicole Halvorson had two service aces.

Kyla Bugner had five block assists for Mayville State.  Puncochar, Werner and Kolness each had two block assists.

DSU outhit MSU 65-50 in the match.  The Trojans produced a hitting percentage of .288 with 19 attack errors in 156 attempts.  MSU hit .134 with 28 attack errors in 164 attempts.

The Comets were perfect from the serving line, converting all 80 serves.  The Trojans committed two service errors for a service percentage of .989 (94 serves).  Both teams had two service aces.

DSU had 11.5 blocks (2 solo blocks and 19 block assists) compared to MSU 7.0 blocks (14 block assists).

Dakota State concludes their eight-match home stand on Tuesday evening at DSU Fieldhouse.  The Trojans host their in-state rival Mount Marty (S.D.) in a non-conference match with a junior varsity match at 6 p.m., followed by a varsity match at 7:30 p.m.  The DSU volleyball team will be recognizing the faculty/staff prior to the match as part of Faculty/Staff Appreciation Night.

Mayville State returns home at Lewy Lee Fieldhouse as they continue their NSAA conference action, hosting Dickinson State (N.D.) Friday and Jamestown next Saturday.

Nick Huntimer, Dakota State University Sports Information Director